1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head having a writer with an embedded write gap and also relates to a method of fabricating such a magnetic head.
2. Background Art
A magnetic head includes a writer for writing data onto magnetic storage media such as magnetic tape or any other removable magnetic media. The writer generally includes top and bottom magnetic poles. The poles have tips which sandwich a write gap insulator at a media bearing surface. The poles generate magnetic flux for recording magnetic transitions into media positioned at the media bearing surface to write data onto the media.
Narrow track widths in media are being increasingly used to increase the amount of data that can be recorded. A narrow track width requires tight control of the dimension and shape of the pole tips at and near the write gap. The pole tip width of the trailing pole (i.e., the top pole tip or the bottom pole tip dependent on the direction of motion of the media at the media bearing surface) determines the track width of the writer.
As the track width becomes smaller, the problem of (i) defining narrow pole tips while (ii) incorporating highly wear-resistant materials at the media bearing surface becomes significantly more difficult. Consequently, the pole tip definition process, commonly done at the top pole level, becomes progressively more difficult as the pole tip widths narrow. Further, as the pole tip definition process is near the end of the writer fabrication sequence, this process is more costly if a processing error occurs.
In general, the ability to control pole tip width is an issue as the dimensions on the writer become smaller. Wear resistance is also an issue for magnetic heads, especially, helical scan magnetic tape heads.